This invention relates to a temporary door installation for a grain-carrying freight car, and, more particularly, to one that is bolstered centrally of each door by a cross-tie assembly. As such, the invention herein can be considered an improvement on the assembly seen in U.S. Pat. No. 2,915,117. Other patents showing center-bolstered cross-ties are 2,855,992; 3,021,897; 3,096,814; and 3,216,483. Thus, the art is fairly well developed -- it being appreciated by the workers in this art that the large horizontal extent of a relatively flexible paperboard door (even when reinforced by steel strapping) can be benefitted through the use of further bolstering -- as by cross-tying the opposed temporary doors together. This, in effect, cuts down the unsupported length by one half.
Difficulties in the prior art expedients have arisen primarily in the areas of the temporary doors that have to be punctured in order to fasten the cross-ties. This, I overcome in a unique fashion by providing a horizontally extending slot in the supporting strap, and thread through this slot a length of similar type strapping which provides the cross-tie. The outboard side of the door -- the side to which the cross-tie is anchored -- is advantageously reinforced by a vertical wooden member. The foregoing arrangement makes possible an economical and compact kit to be furnished to the railroads; yet one, when installed, that is highly reliable in preventing premature or unexpected failure of the temporary barricades.
Further objects and advantages of the invention may be seen in the details of the ensuing specification.